Armando Muñoz (Earth-616)
'Mondo | Identity = Secret | Affiliation = ; formerly | Relatives = Mrs. Munoz (mother); Hector Munoz (father) | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = Mobile; formerly X-Factor Investigations Headquarters, New York City, New York; XF Investigations Headquarters, Detroit, Michigan; Xavier Institute, Salem Center, Westchester County, New York; Muir-MacTaggert Research & Development, Muir Island; Biltmore Academy for Advanced Education, New York; New York City, New York | Gender = Male | Height = 6'4" | Weight = 150 lbs | Eyes = White | Eyes2 = (no visible iris); Brown (originally) | Hair = None | UnusualFeatures = | CharRef = | Citizenship = American, Krakoan | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Adventurer; former student | Education = Muir-MacTaggert Research & Development Institute, New York; Biltmore Academy for Advanced Education, New York; unidentified middle school | Origin = Mutant | PlaceOfBirth = New York City, New York | Creators = Ed Brubaker; Trevor Hairsine | First = X-Men: Deadly Genesis Vol 1 2 | Last = | HistoryText = Origin Armando was born different from other children. By age four, he was bald, his arms were longer than normal, and his eyes seemed to change. His father abandoned them around this time, and his mother blamed Darwin for his mutation. He grew up in the face of rejection, with even his own mother despising him, but he didn't hate her for that. He did everything he could to make her love him. A day came when he was asked to take an IQ test. Unknown to anyone at the time, Armando's desire to impress his mother subconsciously activated his mutant power and allowed him to test off the charts. He was quickly enrolled in a renowned boarding school, the Biltmore Academy for Advanced Education, but he was sent away mostly because his mother still hated him. Although his teachers loved him, he was bullied constantly by other students. One day the bullies put his head in the toilet and Armando noticed he could breathe underwater. He lifted his head out and began fighting back, feeling his arms become tough, almost like cement when he punched them. The bullies fled and Armando never brought up what had happened. His mother then became a heavy smoker. One night she fell asleep with one of her cigarettes still lit, accidentally setting their house on fire. Armando carried her out, unaffected by the flames to the astonishment of firefighters and paramedics. Tests were done at the hospital, and scientists were brought in. Armando was told he was a mutant and was nicknamed "Darwin, the Evolving Boy" (after Charles Darwin) because he seemed to adapt to every condition the scientists could think of. For example, they placed him in a pitch-black room and he gained night vision. There was even a lengthy report that was published about Armando. Unfortunately, his mother continued to reject him, denying that she could ever give birth to such a thing. Dejected, he attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the roof. Instead, he bounced off the ground. After talking about what happened with the school psychiatrist, he was told that 'someone who works with other kids like him' had read about Armando and was interested in meeting him. This person turned out to be Moira MacTaggert. X-Men Moira MacTaggert recruited Armando as one of her "fosters." He was in the first team, along with Vulcan, Petra, and Sway to attempt to rescue the X-Men from Krakoa. While Petra and Sway were killed by Krakoa, Darwin and Vulcan were swallowed in the earth by a combination of Sway and Petra's dying powers. Darwin absorbed the remains of the two girls and then converted himself into energy to fuse together with Vulcan. This gave Vulcan the powers of Darwin, Petra, and Sway. M-Day & Deadly Genesis Years later, Rachel Summers managed to expel Darwin's presence from Vulcan, who then took off for space. While dealing with the shocking revelations of the truth about Krakoa and Vulcan, Beast found out that Darwin was still in fact alive. He was brought back to the Xavier Institute, where Beast determined Darwin was now a being of pure energy. While not conscious, he was shown to still have brain activity and was still alive, located at the X-Mansion. Once separated from Vulcan, Darwin's abilities caused him to develop a physical form once more. When the X-Men (including Warpath, Havok, Polaris, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler, and Professor X) left to go hunt down Vulcan and stop him from destroying the Shi'ar, it was revealed that the Professor brought Darwin with them with hope that his friendship with Vulcan would help. When Shi'ar agents abducted Professor X, Darwin followed, and secretly jumped onto their spacecraft as it fled. After successfully rescuing Xavier from his captors, Darwin was well on his way to freedom when D'Ken was revealed to be alive and well. Recaptured by the Imperium guards, Darwin failed in his attempt to rescue his mentor and reluctantly accepted Vulcan's offer of becoming Best Man at his and Deathbird's wedding. Though obviously against the union, Darwin attended the wedding - albeit in shackles - and was caught in the crossfire when the X-Men and Starjammers attacked. Fearing his great day to be completely ruined by the interference, Vulcan trapped Xavier within the M'Kraan Crystal. Naturally fearing for his mentor's safety, Darwin followed Xavier into the depths of the crystal and rescued him. He was taken to the X-Men's spaceship with Professor X and Lilandra Neramani sent the ship on its way back to Earth. Darwin was one of the X-Men who heeded the call for help when Hulk came to the Xavier Institute. While fighting the Hulk he evolved the ability to absorb gamma radiation. Darwin attempted to absorb gamma radiation from the Hulk only to find that the Hulk's gamma radiation supply was far more than he could drain. His body then determined the best way to confront the Hulk was to not confront the Hulk at all, and Darwin gained teleportation powers which promptly teleported him out of the Hulk's path of destruction. Darwin reappeared along with the X-Men and fought against the Marauders, Purifiers, Predator X and Cable. X-Factor Investigations Sometime after the birth of the first mutant since M-Day, Darwin went in search of Professor Xavier because of rumors that he was alive again. While searching, Darwin encountered Nogor the Talisman, a Skrull impersonating Longshot. While in Detroit, the pair was attacked by Jazinda and She-Hulk who were trailing after Nogor. Meanwhile, Darwin's father hired X-Factor Investigations to help him find Darwin because he felt bad for walking out on him and his mother when he was younger. After reuniting father and son, it was revealed that Hector actually wanted Darwin only to hand him over to the mysterious Karma Project. Darwin was subsequently saved by X-Factor, and agreed to join the team. After joining X-Factor, Darwin helped to save Lenore from the assassination attempts of Cortex , relocated to New York City , rescue the Invisible Woman from Doctor Doom , and battle Bolivar Trask and his MRD. ]] After inadvertently handing Pip the Troll over to Hela, the X-Factor crew journeyed to Las Vegas to rescue him. In Vegas, the team encountered Hela's undead warriors. With help from Thor, the team held their own, but the key to winning the battle was Darwin taking on gaining Hela's powers and using them against her. Lone Warrior Unfortunately, taking on Hela's death powers seems to have had negative effects on Darwin, who chose to leave the team for a sabbatical. While wandering in the desert, Darwin experienced a dream or vision during which he battled the dragon-like Sirrush and encountered a sheriff named Tier, who claimed to be the son of Rahne Sinclair. Armed with this unsettling information, Darwin began a trek back to New York to warn his friends.X-POSITION: PETER DAVID During his sojourn, Darwin began hearing voices telling him about Tier, and Darwin decided to kill the child himself instead of approaching his former comrades. Darwin began hunting the child, but was prevented by Tier's guardian, Werewolf by Night. In Pennsylvania, Darwin had successfully incapacitated Werewolf by Night, and had cornered Tier, only to be thwarted by the interference of Vanora and Rictor. Although momentarily caught off guard by Rictor's restored mutant powers, Darwin remained determined to continue to track Tier and kill him. Compelled by forces beyond his understanding, Darwin continued to track Tier to New York City where Tier tried to meet with X-Factor. However, when Darwin arrived at X-Factor Investigations Headquarters, he lacked the nerve to actually kill Tier. Because he was unable to kill Tier to avert the Hell on Earth War, Darwin elected to rejoin X-Factor to fight the Hell Lords. After the Hell on Earth War, Darwin was separated from the others and traveled back to Las Vegas to find Hela and force her to fix him. While searching for Hela, Darwin encountered a recently resurrected Monet. The pair had a one-night stand. Afteward, Hela found Darwin, but he refused her help. Dawn of X Since they could survive the temporal changes of that place, Synch, Darwin and Wolverine (Laura) were picked to capture Serafina by entering The Vault, a place where anyone trapped inside could remain there for thousands of years. Unfortunately, as soon as the three entered the Vault, they seemed to lose touch with the X-Men. | Powers = Darwin is a mutant with an extremely malleable physiology, including: * Instantaneous Adaptation: Darwin's powers of self-protection offers continuous circumstantial evolution. Darwin is able to adapt to any situation. His reactive mutation adjusts his capabilities to his environment. Examples of such manifestations include receiving functioning gills after being submerged in water, gaining night vision after being in the dark for several seconds, being able to survive without oxygen when in space, his skin becoming fireproof when it is exposed to flames, his body becoming pure energy, his intelligence increasing itself or the understanding of the Shi'ar language by looking at it in written form. However, his powers do not always take the effect he desires. For example, during his fight with the Hulk, his body teleports him away from the battle rather than supplying a power that would allow him to defeat the Hulk. ** Immortality or Near Immortality: As a byproduct of Darwin's continuous evolution, he may, in fact, be immortal. He can survive indefinitely in harsh conditions and/or without water or nourishment. Darwin even survived Hela's death touch. ** Proactive Adaptation: After his battle with Hela, Darwin became able to trigger mutations that could proactively ensure his survival sometimes even by affecting others around him. * Death Harbinger: Although many of his death deity adaptations have gone, Darwin still claims to be a death harbinger. Darwin does appear to be able to detect when someone is dying and still carries much of the darkness of Hela with him. * When exposed to water, Darwin often adapts aquatic evolutions including gills and webbed hands. * Darwin has turned his fists into rocks to fight bullies. * When his home caught on fire, Darwin became fireproof with slick, wet skin to rescue his mother and escape. He has had similar evolutions when exposed to other fires. * When placed in darkness, Darwin has evolved to see in the dark with clarity. * After learning that he was a mutant and being rejected by his mother, Darwin tried to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, but his body became light enough that he merely bounced as he touched the pavement. * When he seemingly died battling Krakoa, Darwin transferred his mind into Vulcan until they returned to Earth and Darwin recreated his own body out of pure energy. * During a fall, Darwin's body evolved to a rubbery form to survive the impact. * To survive in the vacuum of space, Darwin evolved to not need oxygen while his skin and internal organs increased in density. * Darwin once evolved to be able to survive direct laser exposure with only a little discomfort. * Darwin survived entering the M'Kraan Crystal to save Professor X. * At times of great danger, Darwin has involuntarily teleported himself away from the imminent threat. * When threatened with a knife by a gang in Detroit, Darwin's neck and skin became rubbery and tough. * When he was shot in close range by Jazinda, Darwin's torso deflected the bullet back at her. * While being led around the Skrull Nogor the Talisman impersonating Longshot, Darwin developed the ability to jolt the Skrull with physical contact forcing him to reveal his true form. * When shot with a blaster by Nogor the Talisman, Darwin's body absorbed the energy. * When shot by a nerve disrupter, Darwin evolved into a sponge with no nervous system to avoid death. * Because excessive amounts of alcohol are harmful, Darwin's metabolism increases preventing him from ever becoming drunk. * To escape a Cortex-possessed Monet, Darwin's body became bloated sludgy slim. * Darwin somehow survived being seemingly crushed by falling Sentinel debris. * When punched full-force by Monet, Darwin lost all feeling above his neck and seems to have allowed his skull to become soft. * When shot by the MRD, Darwin evolved to absorb and digest the bullets. * After touching Hela, Darwin became a death deity and gained powers similar to Hela including immortality, Asgardian physiology and control over life and death. * While wandering through the desert, Darwin evolved to no longer require water. * When fighting the Sirrush, Darwin's skin thickened and hardened to provide insulation and increase his strength. * When shot by Sheriff Tier, Darwin rearranged his vital organs and rapidly healed from the wounds. * While hunting Tier to avert the apocalypse, Darwin evolved to no longer need sleep. * One of Darwin's proactive adaptation allowed him to force Jack Russell from his werewolf form into his human form. * When thrown off a cliff by Rictor, Darwin began to sprout wings, but hit the ground before the wings could break free of his costume. To survive, he instead turned to stone. * Darwin somehow survived being hit by a car. * Darwin somehow survived the explosion that destroyed the X-Factor Investigations Headquarters. * To survive a barrage of a hundred bullets, Darwin's body transformed into a jell-o-like substance. }} | Abilities = * Highly intelligent and speaks multiple languages due to his mutation of adaption | Strength = * Variable - Darwin is as strong as he needs to be | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = * Darwin's father is Latino and his mother is African-American. * Darwin still has a very close father-son like relationship with Professor Xavier. * Darwin was part of a love triangle with Monet and Strong Guy with both men pining after Monet in secret for some time. Strong Guy and M eventually went on a date, but it ended very poorly. Later, Darwin and Monet had a one-night stand. | Trivia = | Marvel = Darwin | Wikipedia = Darwin (comics) | Links = * Armando Muñoz (Earth-616) at Uncannyxmen.net * Armando Muñoz (Earth-616) at comicvine.com * X-POSITION: PETER DAVID * X-POSITION: PETER DAVID TALKS PAYING OFF THREADS IN "X-FACTOR" }} Category:Adaptation Category:Multilingual Category:Post-M-Day Mutants (Unregistered) Category:Mutants activated at birth Category:Xavier Institute Student Category:Death Deities Category:Deity